The Inferiors
Hi... ^_^ I was inspired by this fanfic I read somewhere, called 'Sidekicks'. It's about demigods such as Leo and Drew, who feel unwanted, or third wheels, etc etc. Basically they're this large group of Misfits (btw has anyone read The Misfits by James Howe, because its really good) (anyway back to the fanfic) and they gather every night in the soon-to-be-finished Argo II and talk about their problems. Basically, a secret demigod support group. Starring Leo Valdez.. because of reasons. Minor language. Caution to younger readers. Chapter 1 Leo Valdez stormed out of the Big House, crushing flowers underfoot as he ran across camp, looking for somewhere to sulk. Not in the Hephaestus cabin, too predictable. People would see him there, and ask him what was wrong. No, that would be the same anywhere in camp. He had to get somewhere. Somewhere where he could be alone. His feet found a well-trodden path. Without knowing what he was doing, he made his way through the forest. There, in a clearing, was his ship. The Argo II, just an empty shell now, but it would be furnished and all the details would be added in later. It was late February, but Leo wasn't bothered with the deadline. If Extreme Makeover: Home Edition could create a whole house in a week, he would be able to build a warship in 6 months. The smooth American Cherry wood frame was kind of flammable, but Leo was getting better at controlling the flames. At least he hoped so. Leo hoisted himself through a hole that would be replaced by a window sooner or later, and walked through the husk of a boat, looking for a nice shadowy corner to sit in. He found an empty room and crashed on the ground. The sun was beggining to set, but Leo was bad at keeping track of the time. He lay there thinking depressed, annoyed thoughts until the moon was high in the sky. There was a hole in the roof, and the bright full moon shone right through it, almost blinding him. I really should fix that, Leo thought, annoyed. Wait.. if the moon is right above me, that should mean it's about.. midnight! Huh. I've been here for a really long time. Leo yawned, running his hands thrugh his silky dark locks. He reluctantly got up, stretching his arms. He jumped out through the window-hole, turning to face Festus' head, which had sat there since they started building. I won't forget, he thought, and hurried back into the forest. He trudged back through the moonlit forest. It was really beautiful, the dark treetops tinged with silver. The leaves rustled, but it was just the cool wind. He was sad when the trees ended. He wanted to stay in the wild, pretty woods forever. Shaking his head, he walked sadly back to Cabin 9. He crashed into his bed, not bothering to retreat into his private room below. Just before he gave into sleep, one thought struck him: No one went looking for me when I left the meeting. It's true, no one does care. ******^ ^****** Leo went back every night. He was smart enough to bring jalapeno-flavoured cheetos and smuggled Vanilla Cokes. It cleared his head, to just sit there, thinking. It was calming. And he always enjoyed the walks back in the midnight moonlight. Sometimes he stayed in the forest for a few minutes, slowly regaining his sanity. I'd rather waltz than just walk through the forest... He had been going for a couple of weeks when he heard something following him into the forest. He ignored it; probably a squirrel, or a mouse. He clambered back into the Argo II, breathing in the familiar scent of freshly chopped wood. Heading back to his usual spot, he casually looked over his shoulder, to check that it wasn't a monster that had followed him. He caught a flash of black and pink. Confused, he took a few steps back, looking around a corner. To his shock, Drew Tanaka stood there, defiance flashing in her eyes. He sighed. "What do you want, Drew?" "Well, I keep seeing you go into the forest every day, and I was.. curious," she said. Leo raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. "What do you even do here, oil boy?" Drew asked. "Mourn your dragon? Listen to Led Zeppelin? Have awkward lonely dance parties?" Leo rolled his eyes, while Drew smirked. "No, no and no. Believe it or not, I come here to think." Drew mock-gasped. "Oil boy actually has a brain? You're kidding, right?" She paused. "So, what do you think about when you come here?" Leo wasn't sure how to answer. This was Drew, the bitchy Cabin 10 ex-counsellor. Piper's arch-enemy, who seemingly hated everyone. So obviously, he answered, "I- well, I think about how unfair it all is. Jason and Piper always get the attention. I'm just the funny guy, the 'other one', the.. the sidekick." The more he thought about it, the more perfect the word became. He had been kicked to the side, ignored. He turned to face Drew. How would she react? To his surprise, she sank down onto the floor, motioning for him to go on. So he did. He ranted for hours. He only stopped when the dazzling moon shone through the hole in the roof. it was time to go back. "I'll be back tomorrow, 'kay?" Drew whispered as they exited the shining forest. Leo stared as she flounced back towards Cabin 10. How completely unexpected. But not unwelcome. Chapter 2 Leo and Drew met in the Argo II every night from then on. They weren't dates. They just became friends through their own insecurity. They took turns talking and talking about how unfair life was. Sometimes they counseled each other, telling each other how to get over the feelings of inferiority. "I'm so.. alone. No one wants to be my friend. They all think I'm the Asian Barbie from Hell. Once- once I was a nice person. The war- it changed me. So many bodies... I turned bitter. Then Piper forced me out of leadership. She doesn't deserve it just because she's got more power than me. That doesn't make sense." "All they think I can do is make tacos. And unsuccessfully fix things." "Everyone thinks I'm naturally mean and vain, but I'm insecure about myself. I'm a lover, not a fighter, and that's my fatal flaw." On and on this went. No one looked for them when they disappeared, but the campers got curious. Sometimes, lone campers went searching for them. But they never found them, for some reason. They probably didn't even look in the giant warship. ******^ ^****** One sunny day in early April, Leo was returning from the climbing wall (it was easy for him; he didn't have to worry about the lava) when he heard a quiet sniffle. It came from behind the Demeter cabin. Leo decided to investigate. Grover Underwood sat leaning against the back of the cabin, playing he reed pipes and making the grass on the roof sway. But Grover looked miserable. His eyes shone with tears. He looked up at Leo and jumped, startled. Leo crouched down beside him. "What's wrong?" Grover paused for a second. "Nothing." "I don't believe you." Grover huffed. "Fine. No one- no one cares about me! My best friend is missing, but no one thinks about how I miss Percy, too! I'm a Lord of the Wild and everything, but no one takes me seriously. Even- even Juniper." He sniffled again. "If- if you must know, she just broke up with me!" He pulled a silk hankerchief from his shirt pocket and blew his nose. It sounded like a foghorn. Lo awkwardly patted Grover's shoulder. "Don't worry about it." Then an idea sparked in his brain. "Hey Grover, do you ever wonder where Drew and I disappear to every night?" Th satyr stared at him, confused but curious. Leo whispered the details into his ear. "So, what do you say? Do you want to join the demigod support group?" "Um.. okay?" "Wait... Grover, do you swear on the River Styx that you won't reveal any details of this conversation to anyone?" asked Leo. "Fine. I swear on the River Styx that I won't reveal any details of this conversation to anyone." "Good. See you.. tonight!" Chapter 3 Drew and Leo scouted around for 'new recruits'. They had been doing this for a week, and whenever they saw someone who looked sad, lonely or basically miserable. They asked them to join 'The Inferiors' as they now called it. Then they swore them to secrecy and told them all the precious details. They met every night in the Argo II, but they were getting louder and louder the more campers joined, so Leo and Drew knew they had to do something about it. Leo walked around camp, trying to seem conspicuous. Then he heard the sound of cruel laughter near the Mess Hall. He jogged over. He saw a couple of sons of Ares push a small boy of about ten to the ground. He really was tiny, with large, protuberant blue eyes and flame-red, scruffy hair. He was wearing a Camp Half-Blood t-shirt and murky brown cargo shorts, but as Leo watched, the shorts changed color to acid green. The boy whimpered, but narrowed his eyes. Leo covered his mouth as one of the bulies raised his fist to punch the boy, but just as his hand was about to come in contact with the boys face, his arm started to glow, and it started jerking around like a defective automaton. "What the hell are you doing, witch boy?" the bully said in alarm as he desperately tried to control his arm. The boy noticed me and grinned; Leo smiled back. Finally, the kid snapped his fingers and the arm stopped jering around and the Ares kids' eyes unfocused as if they had become blind, and he snuck away from them. His shorts were flame red now. "Quick," he said. "The spell won't hold for long!" Leo took his word for it. They ran back to the omega-shaped ring of cabins, but the boy stopped at the last, Cabin 20, the Hecate cabin. Of course, Leo thought.'' The magic goddess. 'Witch boy'. It makes sense.'' The son of Hecate leaned against the cabin, catching his breath. As I watched his shorts morphed from red to a calm pale blue. "Um, so, what's with your shorts?" Leo asked awkwardly. The boy looked at them. "Oh, well, I put a spell on them so that they change with my mood," the boy answered. He extended his hand. "I'm Chand." Leo shook his hand. The son of Hephaestus noticed traces of lonlieness and sadness in Chand's eyes. He'd become good at it after recruiting so many. "So.. Chand.. do you ever wonder about the supposed 'Inferiors' that gather in camp every night?" Leo asked casually. "Um, well, actually, yes!" Chand replied. "I haven't gone looking, but I feel like.. well.. I sort of want to join them!" he blurted out, red creeping into his cheeks. It clashed with his firey hair. Leo grinned and whispered the details into the son of Hecate's ear. His eyes got wide and he swore on the River Styx not to reveal them to anyone. Leo then left Chand standing in front of his cabin and strolled over to the Hermes cabin. He peered in. It was a mess, socks and underwear strewn everywhere. The smell was.. simply indescribable. He stepped inside, looking for the evasive Stoll twins. He finally saw something move behind one of the bunk beds. A boy stood up, ruffling his messy brown curls. Leo waved. "Yo, Travis!" The boy crossed his arms. "I'm not Travis, I'm Connor!" "...Right. So, you got the Vanilla Cokes ready for tonight?" "Yeah, but.. seriously? You need twenty? We've got that many members already?" Leo nodded, a grin sliding across his face. "Just got a new member a minute ago!" he said. "Anyway, see you tonight!" ****^^*^^**** The room in the Argo II was packed. Around twenty demigods gathered in the soon-to-be dining room, chatting and- in Katie and Travis' case- making out. A banner reading 'The Inferiors' hung above the fireplace. Twenty vanilla cokes were placed on the new mahogany dining table, along with bowls full of Cheetos and, a rare treat, cupcakes, made by a couple of girls from the Demeter cabin. There were a lot of unexpected campers there. Travis and Connor Stoll, for one- I mean, for two. They claimed they had a life outside of pranking, and a lot of campers didn't recognize that. There was also Clovis, who apparently didn't sleep'' all'' the time, and Butch, who was really tired of all the homo jokes, and even Nyssa, who was much more vulnerable than she seemed, plus about 15 other campers. "Okay, guys, today's meeting marks the 20-day anniversary of The Inferiors!" Leo shouted. Everyone cheered- not very loudly, of course, as everyone would hear. "Okay, we've got a couple of new campers here today!" Dreaw announced. She steered the two youngsters, Chand and another girl, to the head of the table. "This is Chand, son of Hecate," she declared, motioning towards the embarrassed boy. "And this," she said, pointing at the girl, "is Sefarina, daughter of- well, nobody knows, but she had powers over the air." The girl looked about eleven, and she had wind-swept white-blonde hair and strange, silvery blue eyes. She was playing with a bit of wind in her hands, twisting it into smooth, flowing wind-shapes. "Okay," said Leo over the noise of everyone chatting. "Does anyone want to share something about their feelings of inferiority?" Chapter 4 Leo was feeling pretty happy with himself these days. So far, there were 43 members of the Inferiors. It was hard to get all those refreshments, but they were managing. 43 demigods make a lot of noise, so Chand created an enchantment that muffled the sound to the outside world. He also performed a tricky little spell every night that caused anyone who came within 50 meters of the Argo II to suddenly walk back to their cabin and forget what they were doing. The spell faded away by morning, so people could still continue building the ship during the day. Unfortunately, the spell could be broken by the most powerful demigods, such as children of the Big Three. And Jason Grace and Piper McLean were two of those demigods. ****^^*^*^^**** They made a plan to meet at the volleyball court at 11:15. They pretended to go to sleep, but really, they were faking. Piper waited for the familiar sounds of Drew and her other sister, Ivy Vane, to get out of bed. It was about 10:30. Finally, it was time. The daughter of Aphrodite and the son of Jupiter clambered out of bed and snuck out into the moonlit night. Jason was leaning against the volleyball net, smiling as Piper strolled towards him. They greeted each other with a kiss, then ran over the plan again. "So, we're going to crash this meeting of 'The Inferiors', as it's pretty much excluding everyone.. not inferior," Piper started. "Right. Well, everyone who's tried to find them fails, but we're definitely going to find them." "So, Jason, you're sure that they meet somewhere in the forest?" "Very sure. It's really faint, but I can hear them talking." Piper screwed up her face, concentrating, and nodded. "I can hear them too." "It's settled, then. Lets go!" ****^^*^*^^**** Sefarina knew they were coming before she saw them. As she was probably the daughter of some wind goddess, she was using her wind powers as an extra barrier between the Argo II and the rest of camp, just in case Chand's spell somehow failed. But she felt something pushing against the barrier. She thought hard, and a silvery image appeared in her mind. She saw a boy and a girl slowly pushing through the wind. Her eyes widened and she ran to Leo and Drew. "Someone's coming! They- they're powerful enough to push through the spell and the wind barriers!" she told them hurriedly. She could feel them getting closer and closer to the ship. Leo swore under his breath and stood up on a chair. "Quiet! Someone's coming! Hide!" It was chaos. Demigods raced up the stairs or through corridors. There were about twenty bedrooms, not nearly enough. A half minute later, though, the room had emptied except for Leo, Drew, Chand, Sefarina and Katie Gardner. They tried to make a dash to the exit but then two figures walked in. Crap, Leo thought. Why did I put the dining room just past the front door? Then he gasped. It was Jason and Piper! His... friends. Well, not really. Jason looked mildly surprised that there was such a small amount of people. It didn't even cross his mind that there could be more, hiding. Piper grinned darkly when she saw Drew. She would be busted! Leo coughed. "Um, what are you guys doing here?" Piper raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I think you know, Repair Boy." "Hey!" "So, these are the fabled 'Inferiors'?" Jason asked. Leo smirked. "Yep. Oh, no, you've caught us red-handed!" he said sarcastically. Jason scanned the room. "So, why are there about 40 bottles of Coke?" Leo rapidly improvised. "Um, we bought a really huge mega pack, and we keep them all in my personal mini-fridge!" Jason sighed. He'd hoped that he would find a large group of demigods, cursing the gods or something blasphemous like that. But in reality, it was just five campers standing there. Then Connor and Nyssa stuck their heads out from around a corner. "Hey, guys, is it okay to come back n- oh. Oh gods." Piper stared at them, and looked around the corner, pushing Nyssa and Connor away. There, in a corridor, stood 5 other demigods. She walked along the corridor, and to her amazement, there were demigods hiding in every room! Her voice resonated through the ship: "You can come out now! Come to the dining room!" As if in a trance, all 43 members walked towards the dining room. Once they were all there, Jason sneered at them all. "You're going to be in trouble with Chiron!" 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